Of Metal and Ice
by HikariNakahara
Summary: He didn't want a partner, but he was her assignment and she refused to fail. What will happen when they're forced to work together? Will they put their differences aside & work together? Or will they kill each other first?
1. New Beginnings

**A/N:** Okay I didn't like how this story turned out last time so I decided to redo it. Enjoy!!

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Chapter 1: A New Partner

Ed was currently sitting in Colonel Mustangs office getting his ear yapped off about how he messed at all the places he had been. Frankly though, Ed didn't really give a damn, from his perspective he had done the right thing. But no, no, no it wasn't the right thing to Mustang. And Mustang, being the pervert that he was, had to bring up Ed's run in with Psiren.

"So tell me, is it true that Psiren is a real _10_under the mask?" Mustangeasked in a sly tone.

Ed blushed furiously. "So you knew everything I did all along, is that what you're telling me? Great, I'm glad we had this conversation." Ed said in an agitated tone.

"Ed, you're too reckless, too careless, you tend to rush to conclusions and jump onto any lead you find. Doing something like that is leading you the right way to an early grave. You need some one, besides Alphonse," he added quickly as he saw Ed begin to say something, "who can help you come to reasonable solutions that won't cause the military trouble."

"What are trying to say? That I need some kinda babysitter?"

"Not exactly, but someone who can help you better judge your decisions. Ed, I'm assigning you a partner."

"WHAT?!" Ed yelled, his eyes almost popping out of his head. He didn't need other people prying into his life. Enough people knew as it was, he didn't need to add one more person to the list. Even if they didn't find out, it would just be someone he had to watch out for and he didn't need that.

"I know for a fact that you are not deaf. You heard exactly what I said, but in case you temporarily forgot how to understand your native language- "

"HEY!" Ed growled

"-I'll say it again. You are getting a partner whether you want one or not." Mustang smirked, knowing he had caught him and he had no way of getting out.

Ed sighed, "Fine, who is he?"

"Not he," He paused, "she." Mustang smirk was now covering his whole face.

"A _g-g-girl_?" Ed stuttered, "I mean its bad enough that you're giving me a partner, but a _girl_?"

"Her name is Aria Morse or 'The Ice Alchemist'. She's 15 years old is a _little _shorter than you. You're lucky that I am so generous. I could've picked someone who is much taller."

"Well, then why didn't you?" Ed's voice dripped with sarcasm.

"Because, A: She was one of the few who qualified-"

"What qualifications did they have to meet?"

"It had to be someone who has excellent patience, who truly thinks ahead and strategizes every move carefully." He waited to see if Ed was going to interrupt him before continuing, "and B: She is the only one out of those few who agreed to do it and trust me, she agreed after I spent hours trying to convince her to agree."

Ed sighed, "So, when did she become a state alchemist? I don't want some newbie being my partner." Ed rested his chin on his hand.

"A year after you did-,"

Ed cut him off, "That's _fascinating_."

"You didn't let me finish."

"Fine, finish. I'm listening." Mustang raised an eyebrow and Ed sighed before saying, "I'm listening intently."

"Good, anyway, before I was so rudely interrupted." Ed glared at him, "I was saying that ,like me" he held up his hand to show the top of his glove, "she wears gloves that have the transmutation circles on them."

"Why?" Ed asked with a confused look in his eyes.

"Why do you think I do it? Saves you a hell of a lot of time. Especially if you need to act fast and if you need to act fast, you won't get a very accurate circle would you? And take my word during the final part of her exam, she was very fast." Mustang placed his chin in the palm of his hand.

"Is there anything else feel you must tell me? Do you want to tell me what's her favorite color, how much she weights, how many freckles does she have in any? Tell me, I _really _want to know."

"If you kept acting like that I'm going to have to put you on probation and I know you don't want that do you? "

"_No_**.**" Ed said through gritted teeth.

"Don't think of her as a partner or a babysitter. Think of her more as your common sense, your conscience."

"My conscience?"

"That little voice inside your head that helps you differentiate between what is morally right and wrong. I wouldn't be surprised if you _didn_'_t_ have one."

"I know what a conscience is and I have one! It anyone doesn't have one it's you!"

"She will leave when you don't act on impulse anymore. Where she came from even she doesn't know. I found her when she was twelve, walking through Central all alone. I asked he where her parents were and she said she didn't know, she didn't even know her name."

"Then _how_ exactly did she get her name?" Ed blew a strand of hair out of his eyes.

"I assure you, I have one."

There was long period of silence as Ed and Mustang stared at each other, a single knock at the door broke the tension.

"Yes?" Mustang asked.

"Taisan, Aria Morse is here." Hawkeye said in a professional manner.

"Oh, good send her in." Mustang glanced at Ed, who seemed uninterested in anything except the ceiling. "Now be a gentleman."

"Define gentleman." Ed said sarcastically.

The door opened and a girl with orange-red hair that fell to the middle of her back and bright blue eyes. She had lightly tanned skin and looked to weigh no more than 130 pounds. She had on a long baggy, amethyst shirt, with spaghetti straps and black pants with flat purple shoes. On her hands she wore fingerless black gloves with a transmutation circle on them, just like Mustang said she wore.

"Ed, this is Aria Morse." Mustang motioned towards Aria.

"Hi." Ed said unenthusiastically, not even giving her fleeting glance.

"Aria, this is Edward Elric, 'The Full Metal Alchemist.'" Mustang said proudly.

"Nice to meet you, _Elric_. I look forward to working with you." She said with a begrudging smile while glaring at Mustangeout of the corner of her eye.

"Now Aria, Ed has a younger brother named Alphon--" Aria cut him off.

"Oh, you mean the big guy in the lobby? Yeah I met him but what's up with the armor? That must be a bitch to carry around." She said jokingly.

"Never mind that. As you know, I am assigning Ed and you as partners. Now both of you will have to send me a report on how everything is going. Ed, your report will be the same as always. Aria you will send me a report on how Ed's behavior is coming along."

Ed nodded absent mindlessly until a light bulb went of in his head, "Wait! Did you just make fun of Al?"

Aria placed her hands on her hips, "Well, why is he wearing that armor? I mean what does he think is going to happen? Another war breaking out or a piano falling on top of him?"

"SHUT UP!" Ed yelled loudly. "You have no right to come in here and talk about Al that way! You don't even know him. How would you like it if you walked in and I made fun of something about you?"

"Why don't you just shut up you little _runt_!"

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING SO SMALL YOU NEED AN ELECTRON MICROSCOPE TO SEE THEM?!!"

"That's not what I said! You totally took my words out of context!!" She stepped closer to Ed, arms crossed over her chest.

"I'm not taking your words out of context! You started this damn fight when you made fun of Al." Ed poked her to emphasize his point.

"I Did not!" She smacked his hand away.

"Yes you did!" He slightly shoved her.

She scowled at him, "Did not!" She shoved him, much hard than he had done to her.

"Did too!" Mustang knew if he didn't stop them, his whole office would be demolished.

"ENOUGH!" The two of them froze, leaving them in bizarre positions. Aria had a hold of Ed's collar, while Ed restrained Aria by gripping her wrists, the looks of utter fury quickly turned to stunned. "SIT DOWN!" The speedily sat down on the couch in his office, leaving one cushion of space between them.

"Whether you like it or not, as of right now you two are _partners_! If you want to accomplish anything, you will need to set aside your petty differences and learn to get along. Now both of you introduce yourselves _politely_ to each other." Mustangs voice was very stern, stern and angry.

Aria and Ed stood up and turned to each other with begrudging smiles.

"I'm Edward Elric, 'The Full Metal Alchemist.'" He held out his hand, his muscles tightening.

"I'm Aria Morse, 'The Ice Alchemist.'" She held out her hand which Ed grasped it roughly with his automail hand.

"Alright, that's better. Dismissed." Mustang saluted them and they did the same before walking out of the office, each glaring at the other. Once they got away from his office they muttered to each other angrily.

"If you ever want to have kids, I suggest you never touch me again."

Ed rolled his eye at her, "I'd like to see you try."

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The loud clunking of Al's armor could be heard as he ran over to greet his brother once Ed and Aria entered the lobby.

"Nii-san, What did the Colonel want?" His voice filled with optimism. "Does he have another lead for us?"

"No" Ed muttered, "I got _her_." He twitched his head back towards Aria. "She's my new partner."

"I have a name a name _Elric_."

"Whatever." Ed waved his hand at her. "Al, this is Aria Morse."

"We've met but we didn't properly introduce ourselves before. I'm Alphonse, it's nice to meet you, Aria."

She shook Al's hand. "Likewise, now let's get going."

"Oh are you staying with us?"

"Sure am! Mustang appointed me as Ed's partner, so that I can teach him to be less impulsive." She pointed at Ed.

"Less……impulsive?"

"Mustang said that I'm too rash_, _I jump to conclusions, and that I am going to put myself in an early grave. So he assigned _her_ as my partner. Now that we are all on the same page let's go, I'm tired." Ed yawned.

"Whatever ya say, _shorty_." Aria slapped Ed's back

"Hey you have no room to talk seeing as you're shorter than me!" He touched his hand to the top of his hand than moving it to hers to show that he was taller.

"Yes, but I'm a girl and girls are naturally shorter than boys. I'm at the average height for an adult female but I'm still growing. You'll probably be short forever." She patted his head as if he were a dog.

"SHUT UP!" Ed threw his hands up in the air, almost knocking her down.

"I can see now what Mustang meant about you being rash. Although he forgot to mention you're insane. " Aria looked at Al with a perceptive look.

"Yeah, he does that a lot." Al chuckled.

"AL! Whose side are you on?" Ed looked at Al questioningly.

"I'm on nobody's side. I'm just an innocent bystander." Al waved a tiny white flag.

"Forget it, let's just go." Ed huffed, walking ahead, his feet dragging.

"Ok, shorty." She chuckled

"GAAAAAHHHH!!!!!!"

_'There is no way me and this girl will ever be able to work together. Hell would freeze over first.'_ Ed thought as he ran from Al and Aria, who were sprinting shortly after him laughing all the way.

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**A/N:** So for those of you who read the other version of this story what do you think of the changes? Please read and review! I won't update unless I get at least 4 reviews and I have already written chapter 2!


	2. The Reason Why

**Okay thanks to Alkitty and SeesyEdRoyGirl who were the ****only**** two people who reviewed my story and I am grateful to you two. I hope you stick with me till the end. Now on with the chappie**

**Disclaimer: I do not own FMA or any of the characters, just Aria.  
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Chapter 2: The Reason Why

After a long walk they made it to the brother's temporary apartment, where they entered and Aria was shocked at what she saw. Their apartment looked as though a garbage tornado had hit it. There were papers strewn everywhere, dirty dishes in the sink, and dirty clothes on the floor.

"Ah, home sweet home. Well at least for now." Ed happily chuckled at the last bit of his sentence but Aria was not laughing.

"Don't you two know how to clean?" Aria was utterly horrified at the site before her.

"What do you mean?" Ed had no clue what the problem was but to Aria the room looked as if a group of 5 year-olds lived in it, not a 14 and 13 year-old.

Aria frantically gestured to the papers on the floor, the dishes in the sink, and the clothes strewn everywhere.

Ed shrugged his shoulders, "I don't see anything wrong with it."

Aria just ran a hand through her hair before she started to pick up all the papers on the floor and place them in neat stacks on the coffee table in the middle of the room.

"Hey don't touch those; you'll make us lose all of our progress." Ed dashed towards the coffee table and began to flip through the papers.

"How can you make progress when the papers are scattered all over the floor!?" Aria placed her hands on hips as she glared at Ed.

"Because they were 'scattered' in a certain order and now you messed it up." Ed continued to go thru the piles of notes eventually knocking them over, creating another mess.

"Haven't you heard of a folder? It's a very useful invention; it helps keep papers in order and all in one place. Maybe you should get one." Aria plopped herself onto the couch, rubbing her eyes.

Ed glared at her, "I know what a folder is, but they don't have one big enough for all of our notes."

"See that's when you buy more than 1 and mark what is in each folder. I found that it works wonders, but if you like living like this fine by me. I don't know why I thought a simpleton like you would understand the importance of organization" She sighed agitatedly.

"What did you call me?" Ed leaned over her, his right hand on the arm rest, the other on the back of the couch to support him as his face was inches from hers.

"_Simpleton_, noun; an ignorant, foolish, or silly person. In layman's terms a moron." She said with an expressionless face.

"I would bet anything that I probably scored higher on my state alchemist exam than you did." Ed whispered harshly.

Aria rolled her eyes, "Doubt it."

She placed her hand on Ed's chest and gave him a slight nudge causing him to fall backwards towards the other end of the couch. Ed lost his balance and fell over the other arm rest hitting his head on the floor. He sat up, rubbing his head.

"You're gonna pay for that." Ed growled.

"You were in my bubble." She made a circle with her arms, "Never come in my bubble. It's not my fault you lost your balance, I would think you'd have a low center of gravity." Before she could even blink, Ed had tackled her causing the couch to flip over. A bright flash of light filled the room as Ed transformed his arm into a sword. A sword which he held threateningly at Aria's throat.

Ed panted heavily but Aria just laid there staring at him, "Go ahead, do it. Just know that if you kill me, Mustang will have you removed from the army so fast, you won't know what happened." Ed gazed into her eyes until Al came over and picked Ed up off of her.

"Nii-san that's enough, you could hurt her." Al placed Ed on the other couch before he turned back to help Aria, only to find she got up on her own. Al gazed at her, "Aria, you had no right to taunt Nii-san like that." Ed snorted, "And You had no right to attack her."

Ed's jaw dropped, "She started it when she kept taunting me! What was I supposed to do, just stand there and take it?"

"It's not who starts it, it's who ends it. You should have been the better person and just let it go, but you let your anger get the best of you. Now both of you apologize." Al stood there waiting for them to reconcile but, it never came. Al sighed knowing that nothing would happen anytime soon. "Nii-san, maybe you should go take a shower."

Ed still glared at Aria before he stalked into the other room and slammed the door. Al sighed inwardly as Aria walked over to the fridge and opened it, moving things around inside it.

"Sorry that we don't have that much to eat here but were never usually in one place long enough to shop. We usually just go out. Although I think that there might be some soup in the cupboard."

Aria climbed onto the counter and began rummaging through the cupboard until she pulled a can of chicken broth.

"That will do." She glanced at Al, "Can you get me a pan,please?"

"Sure." Al reached up on top of the cupboards for the soup pan. "Here you go."

"Thank you." Aria turned on the stove, placing the soup in the pan, placing a lid on it as it cooked. She sat down at the table, twirling her fingers around a strand of hair, sighing heavily.

"Aria, can I ask you something?" The silence broken, Aria gazed at him.

"You just did." She said with a laugh.

Al laughed as well "Well, can I ask you two things?"

"Yes you can."

"Why did you agree to work with Ed?"

She sighed, placing her chin in the palm of her hand. "Well…." She pondered for a moment, "I dunno, maybe because I just wanted to travel that and were are close in age. It's kinda weird to work with someone twice your own age, especially if it's a man. You never know what they have done in their private life, so it's hard to trust them. Though it was more of the traveling that convinced me. I haven't really traveled outside of central and Mustang mentioned some of the places you have been. Plus I wouldn't have to work very hard so that sealed the deal."

"Why do you pick on him so much?"

"Because it is so easy." She laughed. Though Al didn't say anything she knew he understood. She sighed before she pushed herself away from the table and headed towards the door. Al called out, "Where are you going?"

"I need to make a phone call." She winked. "Be right back."

"But we have a phone in here." She looked over her shoulder, "I would gladly use it but I don't want Mr. Nosy listening in."

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**A/N: Well that's chapter two. You all know the drill read and review. Please tell me if there is anything I can do to make Aria a well-rounded character and not a Mary-sue. I want a few reviews before I put up chapter 3 which is already done by the way so it all up to you guys. **


	3. Trust

**A/N: Well here's chapter 3! Thank you to Kisa44 who commented on my last chapter. Like before, I hope that you stick with me till the end. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own FMA or any of the characters. I DO however own Aria as she is my own creation along with the title of this story.**

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Chapter 3: Trust

Ed poked his head out of the bathroom door, sweeping his eyes over the apartment before looking towards Al. "Hey Al?"

"Yes Nii-san?"

"I hear the door shut, is she gone?" Ed peered around the room, as if he expected her to pop up from somewhere.

"Yes Nii-san, she had to make a phone call, so she left." Ed comes out in his blue boxers and a white shirt, a towel wrapped around his neck. Ed sniffs the air, "Mmmm that smells good."

"It's just broth brother." Al laughed slightly.

"Hey, if it's free and not poisoned, I don't care." Ed threw himself down on the couch his chin on the arm rest so he could look at Al and sighed.

Al looked at Ed closely. "What's wrong brother?"

"I hate her." Ed sighed in an agitated tone, closing his eyes.

"Why?"

"Why? She is so rude, all she does is make fun of me. Don't try to tell me she's nice Al, because the first fight we had started because she made fun of you."

"Did she actually flat out make fun of me or do you think she did?"

"Anyone with a brain could tell she was."

"Nii-san." Al pressed.

"......Ok, maybe she didn't. But I can tell you she didn't mean what she said in a nice way." Ed explained.

Al leaned over the couch to look at Ed, "She's just here to help you. The worst that could happen is that she won't."

"No, the worst that can happen is that she will poke her nose where it doesn't belong. She could ruin everything."

"Well yes, but she seems like the type that would respect people's privacy."

"You don't know that. She could just put on an act to get on our good side and when we least expect it," Ed snapped his fingers, "She'll turn on us."

"But Nii-san-"

"No Al! I wouldn't trust her as far as I can throw her. Until I can trust her, she is something to slow us down."

"....Nii-san....." 

An uncomfortable silence sat between them until Aria reentered the room where she didn't even look at the brothers, she just plopped herself down in the chair she previously occupied. She sniffed slight and got a weird look on her face "What is that smell? It smells like burning"

Al had completely forgotten to watch the soup, which was now boiling from under the lid of the pan, flowing everywhere. Aria darted to turn off the stove but burned herself in the process.

"Are you okay Aria?" Al gently took her burned hand into his giant ones.

"It's okay, it isn't that bad." She waved it off, but when Al touched the scorch mark she yelped before she smacked Al. "That hurt!"

The she was hurt, Al found her actions very amusing, "It could get infected if you don't take care of it now. Here, put your hand under the cold water while I go get the burn ointment and some bandages."

She looked over her shoulder at Ed who was still lying on the couch, never seeming to have moved.

"So….what's up?"

"Nothing I would tell you." Ed turned his head so he was looking at the ceiling.

"Well aren't you just a little ray of sunshine." She stuck her tongue out playful at him but he said nothing.

She sighed, frustratedly "You are so difficult."

"Good." Ed mocked her.

"Oh, shut up." Aria leaned her head on the counter as Al returned the room holding a first aid kit.

Al grabbed Aria's arm and placed the ointment on it. "Nii-san, can you bandage it for me? My hands are too big."

"Fine." Ed pushed himself up and walked over to her. He grasped her hand and started to wrap it, but something caught his eye. Ed stared; it was a tattoo of a snowflake. Ed tied a knot in the end of the bandage and pushed her hand away. "There she's fixed." Ed moved back to his place on the couch.

"Well, I guess we'll have to eat something else."

Ed nodded, "Yeah."

"Well I am going on a food hunt, could you try and clean up while I am gone." She said as she strolled out of the apartment. Surprisingly her voice had no sarcasm, in fact she had been polite. Ed grumbled catching Al's attention, "What's wrong Nii-san?"

Ed sighed, "There's something about her that rubs me the wrong way. Despite the fact the she keeps making fun of me."

"Do you think that maybe…you could give her a chance."

Ed stared off in to space, '_Maybe I could give her a chance.'_ But before he could answer Aria came through the front door.

"Well, nothing really stuck my fancy. You guys can eat if you want, I'm not hungry anymore."

"I'm not hungry either. I'm going to bed; you can sleep on the couch." Ed got up and headed to the bedroom. Al followed him but paused in front of Aria, "Goodnight."

"Night." She whispered as she watched Al go into the bedroom closing the door behind him.

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"Did you see the tattoo on her arm?" Ed leaned on his elbow so he could look at Al.

"No, what was it of?"

"A snowflake."

"It makes sense I guess, her being The Ice Alchemist."

"That's what I thought." Ed lay back on his bed, his arms behind his head.

"Why did you bring that up?" Al asked.

"I dunno."

"I think you do." Al teased.

Ed glared at his brother before turning onto his back, "G'Night Al."

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**Well that was long, but it's done. WHOOT!! Okay you know the drill, review or no fourth chapter. Keep in mind I already have the 4****th**** chapter done. I just need feedback. Get it? Got it? Good. Oh and sorry about the whole Ed throwing the plate at Al. I know it is A LOT like the tea cup scene in the series but I thought it fit well. :P**


	4. Chapter 4

Sorry that this isn't a chapter. I have finally decided to start this story back up but I am totally rewriting it. For the longest time I only had a vague idea of who Aria was so I have finally decided to really sit down and think about who she is. I plan on starting off the story with a little of her background before making Ed and Aria partners, unlike last time where I put them together right at the start. So at the moment I am working on her character and her back story before I start writing again. I am now older and hopefully can write better than I used to. I am, however, in need of a Beta, someone who can check the chapters for me and also can help keep Aria from becoming a Mary-sue. I want to create a good well rounded character. So any help would be appreciated!

I hope those of you who liked this story when I first started it before will read it still. Sorry for making you wait SO LONG, I just ask you to wait a little longer.

Thank you so much!


	5. New Story UP!

Greetings guys! I have the first chapter up of the revised version of this story.

The new title is "A Tear for Every Grain of Sand".

So please watch that story now. I don't know how often I will update but I can promise it won't be months, as long as I get the feedback I need.

Keep in mind that I am a college student and school comes first so updates may get longer depending on my schedule.

I hope you stick with me on this. I need all the support I can get.

Thank you!

Hikari Nakahara


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